Chicago Municipal Governance Symposium (Panel 2): Power and Efficacy of the City Council Within and Beyond Chicago

We are accustomed to taking as a given the design of our city council—one that carves up our city into 50 wards with an equal number of independently-elected alder-people, working industriously and parochially to benefit local constituents.

We forget that in fact, our political institutions are malleable, and that our way of doing things isn’t everybody’s way. Other cities can provide models, as well as cautionary tales. Rules can be changed, institutions can be recast, and the very fabric of our city government can be reshaped. Most importantly, the contours of our institutions have profound effects on our ability to rise to the challenges that face our city.

To better understand the options, weigh the trade-offs, and consider the best levers to make our city government more effective, we’ll convene a host of local leaders and experts for in-depth discussion and dialogue focused on a number of themes, from representation, to power; from inner machinations to outside influence. Across these discussions, they’ll consider—and debate—the implications and potential effects of key institutional designs: the size of the council, and the absence of at-large representation.

About the panel:

The City Council does not operate in a vacuum. It is just one piece of Chicago’s municipal governance structure, made up of the mayor and numerous city agencies. It also must collaborate—lobby on behalf of the city—with the county, state, and federal officials on a whole host of critical policy issues.

How would we grade the interaction between the city council—in its current form—with other parts and levels of government? What fault lines emerge: Do alder-people with necessarily narrow interests work together to attend to the issues facing the city as a whole alongside other officials with broader mandates? Does the sheer number of leaders at the table make collaboration, oversight, and accountability across agencies more difficult? And, could changes to the council’s size or style of representation affect how it works together with other leaders within and beyond Chicago on behalf of city residents?

• Julia Payson | Assistant Professor, NYU Department of Politics

• Manny Perez (CLA'16) | Former Deputy Mayor for Intergovernmental Affairs, City of Chicago

• Justin Laurence | Reporter, Government and Politics, Crain's Chicago Business

• William Howell (Moderator) | Director, University of Chicago Center for Effective Government